ROURKELA: Rising human casualties caused by man-elephant conflict in Sundargarh district is not the only worry for the Forest department because the elephant deaths haves grown exponentially too.
If sources are to be believed, at least 37 elephants including calves have died over the past five years in the three divisions which are part of the district.
The Rourkela and Bonai forest divisions (FDs) have accounted for 16 and 18 elephant deaths respectively. Sundargarh division recorded three during the period.
The latest elephant death occurred when a critically injured tusker succumbed on January 28 in Ujjalpur range of Sundargarh which continues to account for lowest elephant or human death. The tusker was suspected to have injured in infighting.
Last year itself, a series of deaths were reported. In October, an elephant calf was killed, while a mother and another baby escaped with injuries after a goods train hit them near Bondamunda under the Rourkela FD jurisdiction. Back in September, a sub-adult elephant was electrocuted Nuagaon village of Lathikata block, while a five-year-old male elephant calf was hit and killed by a goods train near Roxy of Barsuan range of the Bonai in August. In April, a tusker with internal mouth injury caused from a bait-bomb was starved to death in a forest of Banki range of Rourkela division as a total of five elephant deaths were recorded in the year.
Bonai DFO Lalit Patra said efforts are underway to improve monitoring to prevent such deaths. Four AI-enabled camera towers are being installed at strategic locations of the division to help monitor elephant movement near railway tracks and conflict prone zones. Separately, a host of other technological and human interventions have been put in place to prevent both human and elephant casualties, he added.
Rourkela division already has functionalised four high-definition AI-enabled camera towers. In December, a breakaway herd of five elephants including a calf moving towards the Rourkela-Barsuan rail track near Sonaparvat reserve forest was prevented from a potential mishap after timely detection by an AI camera.
A senior officer requesting anonymity said preventing elephant deaths remains a major concern in the vast Sundargarh district as the available technological resources are limited. In the past one year, at least 29 persons have died in elephant attacks with Rourkela and Bonai divisions accounting for 14 and 13 deaths respectively.